A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal, Weird and Future News, What Are the Kargrandes, Battle of the Bands Results, and Ninja News

Double A to Z Challenge shot today!

I’m a guest at Curiosity Quills Press, explaining why the Challenge is a great opportunity for writers and authors. (It's live now!)

I’m also at the A to Z Blog with tips on how to make friends.

Interesting Weird and Future Stuff

Caught these first two items at Edi’s Book Lighthouse:

From Web Urbanist - The Capital: Egypt Plans Largest From-Scratch City in History.
Slated to be constructed in just 7 years and cost $300 billion (more than the GDP of Egypt), this ambitious design for a brand new capital city of 5 million people is unprecedented – if completed, it will be a record-setting endeavor. And it is not just a conceptual vision, or at least not entirely- the site has been selected and a 100-square-kilometer test section has already been approved by the Egyptian government.

Edi also posted this from Dark Roasted Blend - Futuristic Concept Cars of the 1970-80s. Check it out – not as far-fetched as you might think.


And in a similar vein, Dark Roasted Blend had an article about Videophones from Future Past. Some of these really are far-fetched!

What Are the Kargrandes?

New clue today at What Are the Kargrandes? This is clue number eleven. (Why eleven? Because it’s higher than ten!) New clues every Monday until the release of Dragon of the Stars on April 7.

Sample Tweets for this week:

What are the Kargrandes? Can you guess? What are their powers? http://whatarethekargrandes.com/ #whatarethekargrandes @alexjcavanaugh

What are the Kargrandes? Solve the mystery by April 7! http://whatarethekargrandes.com/ #whatarethekargrandes @alexjcavanaugh

The Thunderclap campaign is a go! Thanks to all who signed up. If you are on either Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr and want to help me spread the word on April 7, click HERE.

I also have an awesome (and easy) Scavenger Hunt planned for that day that involves Mini-Alex. Many thanks to the bloggers who have volunteered to participate. (I’m sure the promise of an exclusive Mini-Alex photo was the deciding factor!)

Ninja News

DL Hammons is looking for volunteers to read through the entries of the upcoming round of Write Club. See his site for details.

Mark Koopmans signed a book deal!
REVIVAL: The Donald Braswell Story will be published Nov. 3, 2015 by Pen-L Publishing. Way to go, Mark!

The giveaway for The Great Time Lock Disaster by C. Lee McKenzie is coming to an end soon. Register to win at Goodreads.

New Releases –

Double book release!
There’s a Goat in my Boat by Pat Hatt



AND…

Vault of the Gods by Pat Hatt

Seducing Fortune by Brinda Berry
Book 3 of the Serendipity novels

Battle of the Bands Results

I pitted Dream Theater against Redemption with Elton John’s Love Lies Bleeding. Ironically, several voted for Elton John. For those who voted for the two featured songs, this is how it all came down:

Redemption - 5

Dream Theater - 21

And, no surprise, my vote went to Dream Theater. Both are good, but Dream Theater took it to a much higher level.

Challenge Theme Reveal

And now, the day we’ve all been waiting for–the Great Challenge Theme Reveal!

My theme–Cult Classics!

Cult classic movie.
Cult classic album.
Cult classic science fiction book. (Boy, that was tough!)
And of course, a featured blogger buddy. (Or two or three.)
Plus, a term from Dragon of the Stars.

All alphabetically!

In choosing blogger buddies, I tried to select those who hadn’t been featured in the past two years. I hated that I couldn’t feature everyone, but my goal was to keep this year’s Challenge posts short. Some will go by name, some by blog, and some by a crazy Ninja equation. So you’ll have to check every day to see who I’ve featured!

And I know a lot of you have your posts scheduled and ready to go for April. I have mine in Word, html formatted and ready, and all of the images sized properly – but I won’t schedule each post until the night before. (Everyone do a collective gasp.) I still intend to run the Ninja News, announcing any new books, movies, news, whatever. I’ll probably throw in a movie review now and then. Or a cult classic image. So I can only plan ahead so far. But I’ll manage.

Even though the Challenge opens on Wednesday, April 1 is still Insecure Writer’s Support Group post day. Plan accordingly and prepare for a wild ride that day.

Plus, my next book releases on April 7, right in the middle of the Challenge. There will be a Scavenger Hunt Blitz that day, with lots of Mini-Alex photos and a chance to win an autographed copy of Dragon of the Stars, bookmarks and swag, and $20.00 in iTunes gift cards. There’s also an extensive blog tour (which begins next Monday at Stephanie Faris’ site) and other cool stuff to win.

I’m also posting at the A to Z Blog and the Insecure Writer’s Support Group next month.

Yeah, it's a lot! I’ll survive. At least that’s the plan…

If you’re participating in the Challenge, what’s your theme?

Visit the A to Z Blog for the full list of theme reveal participants!

What do you think of Egypt building a new capital? Get a kick out of the concept cars and phones? Figured out the Kargrandes yet? Battle of the Bands’ result surprise you? Does my Challenge theme sound interesting? What’s yours…?

Be sure to visit Curiosity Quills Press and the A to Z Challenge Blog!

Movie News – Iron Man 4, Dark Judges, and More! Plus Music Trivia, Ninja News, and Random Ninja Stuff

Movie News

Rumor of the day: Sony and Marvel might get together on Spider-Man! (Yeah, wouldn’t that be awesome?) Get the details on Blastr.


From JoBlo - on Ellen Degeneres' talk show, Robert Downey Jr. said that yes, an Iron Man 4 movie is coming. Before that, we’ll see Iron Man in Avengers: Age of Ultron on May 2, 2015.

JoBlo also has an exclusive clip of the Guillermo del Toro-produced animated film, The Book of Life. You can view it HERE

An unofficial Dark Judges mini-series is in the works. From Blastr:
Adi Shankar, producer of the first Dredd film, has secretly been filming his own seven-part Dredd miniseries focused on the Dark Judges arc. That’s right — Shankar has created his own, unofficial Dredd project that’ll be released for free online later this month.

And if you haven’t been watching, SyFy’s Face Off is halfway through the new season, and there have been some amazing makeups and creatures so far.

Ninja News

Industry expert and author, Anne R. Allen, is our guest at the IWSG Site today!

Thanks to Michelle for including my book in her Shelfie!







New Releases –

Tempting Fate (a Serendipity novel #2) by Brinda Berry

Secret of Souls by Terri Rochenski

Ghostly Gallows (Book II - Afterlife Series) by Gwen Gardner

Music Trivia!

Album title is listed – name the band.

All in the category of hard rock and prog rock.

1 – Persistence of Time (1990)
2 – Astro-Creep: 2000 (1995)
3 – …And Justice For All (1988)
4 – Jar of Flies (1994)
5 – The Art of Balance (2002)
6 – Hold Your Fire (1988)
7 – Empire (1990)
8 – Images and Words (1992)
9 – Flying in a Blue Dream (1989)
10 – Vulgar Display of Power (1992)

Random Ninja Stuff

Many of you asked about the song that inspired my latest manuscript. When and if I know it’s a done deal with my publisher, I’ll post the video for you. The song title is similar to the manuscript title, plus the lyrics give away some of the story, so you’ll have to wait a bit.

The Flash was really good last night. Had an excellent DC comics vibe to it. 

I finally set up my Author QandA at Goodreads. Had no idea I could do that. Thanks for the tip, Elizabeth! Feel free to ask a question – Goodreads generated a few to start, but they are rather bland…

Really random - peanut butter is awesome. I won't eat pancakes without peanut butter on them.

And my wife purchased some mums, so Mini-Alex would like to dedicate these to all of the ladies! The praying mantis tried to help with the guitar solo, but he wasn’t very good with the strings…

Think Sony and Marvel might get it together? Have you been watching Face Off? Excited about the new releases? Know any of the trivia? Think Mini-Alex should make more appearances…?

July Movie Preview, Sci-Fi Movie News, and Ninja News

No movie review today. Since Transformers 4 received awful reviews, I decided it wasn’t worth sacrificing over two and a half hours of my life to watch mindless explosions.
The real bummer was that Snowpiercer, which came out last year to rave reviews, only had a limited release here in the USA. How limited? One theater. In New York! Hopefully it will open to a wider audience soon, as I really want to see this film.

Here’s the description: In this sci-fi epic, a failed global-warming experiment kills off most life on the planet. The final survivors board the SNOWPIERCER, a train that travels around the globe via a perpetual-motion engine. When cryptic messages incite the passengers to revolt, the train thrusts full-throttle towards disaster.

In other movie news…

According to ScienceFiction.com, Frank Darabont may direct the sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman. Good news for the ladies – the movie will focus on Chris Hemsworth’s character with no Snow White/Kristen Stewart in sight.

And Pacific Rim will be getting a sequel! Scheduled release date is April 7, 2017, so don’t get too excited…

Ninja News

Joy Campbell’s Taming Celeste is now available! Buy it at Amazon US, Amazon UK, and Smashwords

Clarissa Draper’s second book is now out - The Electrician’s Code.

Rachel Morgan’s The Trouble with Flying is now out.

Brinda Berry got the rights back to her book and has rereleased Watcher of Worlds with a new cover.

Do you like to read psychological thrillers? Well, Jessica Bell's giving away her latest release, WHITE LADY, for FREE, to every single person who signs up to the "Two Lies & a Truth" Blog Tour (taking place October 1 - 31). It's hassle-free. All you have to do is post what she sends you to your blog (or Facebook page) and Bob's your uncle. She will also be giving away a copy of the book to one lucky reader of your blog. More details and sign up form HERE.

Yvonne Lewis was sweet enough to send a copy of her book to me! Arlee Bird provided the forward and is featured on the cover.


And I got to supply a blurb for the back! So honored...

Don’t forget that this Wednesday is Insecure Writer’s Support Group post day!

July Movie Preview

Here are the upcoming theatrical releases for July! As always, descriptions courtesy of the IMDB. Snarky comments by me.

4 –

Deliver Us From Evil
NY police officer Ralph Sarchie investigates a series of crimes. He joins forces with an unconventional priest, schooled in the rituals of exorcism, to combat the possessions that are terrorizing their city.
Director: Scott Derrickson
Stars: Eric Bana, Édgar Ramírez, Olivia Munn, Chris Coy
Great name for a Christian sandwich shop. Well, maybe not...

Earth to Echo
After receiving a bizarre series of encrypted messages, a group of kids embark on an adventure with an alien who needs their help.
Director: Dave Green
Stars: Teo Halm, Astro, Reese Hartwig, Ella Wahlestedt
80’s ET rip off meets 2000’s found footage nonsense – time to nauseate your kids.


8 –

DVD – The Raid 2

11 –

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth's dominant species.
Director: Matt Reeves
Stars: Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Andy Serkis, Kodi Smit-McPhee
Get your hands off me you damn dirty sequel! (Actually I really enjoyed the first one and look forward to this film.)

25 –

Hercules
Having endured his legendary twelve labors, Hercules, the Greek demigod, has his life as a sword-for-hire tested when the King of Thrace and his daughter seek his aid in defeating a tyrannical warlord.
Director: Brett Ratner
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, John Hurt, Ian McShane, Joseph Fiennes
See Dwayne Hercules for all your demi-god and real estate needs…

29 –

DVD - Mystery Science Theater 3000 XXX


See any movies this past weekend? Been watching the World Cup? Picking up some new books? And what movies will you be seeing in July…?

See you Wednesday for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group!

Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Plus Massive Book News

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. I encourage everyone to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs.

My awesome co-hosts today are Mark Koopmans, Joylene Nowell Butler, Elsie, and Lisa Buie-Collard! Please stop by their sites and thank them for helping today.

Now that the insanity of the Challenge is over – I am working on my manuscript again! I’m in the final stretch and it was no effort to jump back in and continue with the story. Endings have always come first for me, so what I am about to write has played over in my head a hundred times. So I am eager to finish the first draft. Then editing, which will involve adding many new elements and twists. Good thing I really like the editing phase.

But I did write more than blog posts during April!

I was asked to contribute to audiomachine’s next project, an eighteen track movie soundtrack called Phenomena. There will be a free eBook available for download. With every purchase, audiomachine will make a donation to the LA Youth orchestra. My story will accompany a piece called Drakon's Empire.

What’s my story about? Well, it focuses on a young man by the name of Bassan…

Be sure to visit other IWSG members!

Book Releases and More!!

Break Time
A Steampunk Anthology
by Pat Bertram, J.Conrad Guest, J.J. Dare, Dale Cozort, Suzanne Francis, and Joylene Nowell Butler

Welcome to Break Time, a collaborative steampunk anthology written by seven authors from four countries -- USA, New Zealand, Canada, Australia -- who have never met.

Available on Amazon - eBook and Print

Living the Afterlife: A Death and Chronos flash fiction collection
By River Fairchild

Thirty stories filled with laughter and mishaps as a Harley-riding Death and anachronistic Chronos create havoc in Purgatory and on Earth. A host of Immortals join in the misadventures.

Buy it on Amazon

How to Seduce a Band Geek (How To #2)
by Cassie Mae
Buy it at Amazon


Hey, I resemble that...

Rescue Squad, Book 9 of A Shot in the Light
By Hart Johnson
Buy it at Amazon

Chasing Luck
by Brinda Berry
A Serendipity novel - New Adult Romantic Suspense
Buy it at Amazon, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble

Second Chances 101, the fifth Ripple Effect Romance Novella
By Donna K. Weaver
Buy it at Amazon and Barnes and Noble

Stones of Power: The Invasion
By Eric Buffington
Buy it at Center One Publishing and Smashwords








Altered Perceptions is an anthology of great authors, donating their work to help author Robison Wells, who's crippled by debt, caused by his mental illnesses. David Powers King is pledging one dollar for every comment on his IWSG post today. So visit David and donate his money!

Whoa!
Anyone else diving back into their writing this month? Picking up Phenomena? (You should see the list of authors contributing stories to the eBook!) Picking up any of the new releases? And what’s your writing insecurity today…?

And heads up – I will be out and about enjoying life this weekend, so you won’t see me around much. After last month, I hope I remember how…

And please, special prayers for Melissa Bradley. She was admitted to the hospital on Monday and they discovered a huge mass around her lymph nodes. The biopsy is today, so please keep her in your thoughts.

The Best of 2013, New Books, Ninja News, and What Was Your Best Year?

The Best and Personal Favorites of 2013

It was another awesome year for movies, music, and everything in between. Here were some of the highlights for me, in no particular order.

Favorite Movies

Star Trek Into Darkness – non-stop and just a very good and solid movie
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – another great entry and roller coaster of a ride
Pacific Rim – giant robots versus giant monsters – need I say more?
Gravity – very intense and Oscar-worthy
Thor: The Dark World – even better than the first one
Man of Steel – liked it even more the second time

Favorite Music

Rush – Clockwork Angels Tour DVD/CD – great live show and the orchestra puts it over the top
Dream Theater CD – their best album since Awake
Ayreon – The Theory of Everything CD – another amazing concept album from Arjen

Favorite New Television Shows

The Blacklist – Spader makes it
Almost Human – great interaction between the leads
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – fun and expands the Marvel universe
Defiance – support your local good science fiction show!
House of Cards – you’ll need a shower afterwards but it’s fun

Favorite Game 

Rocksmith 2014 – a lot of fun and better designed



What were some of your favorites?

New Books!

Lydia Kang’s Control is now out – her first book!

Roland Yeomans’ Death in the House of Life is now available!


Another masterpiece from Roland...

EJ Wesley’s Vampire's Ball, Moonsongs Book 5 was unleashed.

Watcher of Worlds by Brinda Berry
Whispering Woods Book 3
ISBN: 978-1-941133-00-2

Senior year should bring fun, friends and happiness. Not portals, treachery, and murder.

Find it on Amazon

Anne R Allen’s The Lady of Lakewood Diner in now out!

Emilyann Girdner’s The Labyrinth Wall was released!

Kimberly Afe’s The Headhunter’s Race came out last week!

Ciara Knight’s Pendulum is out!





Congratulations to all!

Ninja News

Today at the A to Z Blog is an interview with the awesome Michael Di Gesu! He turned his theme into a lucrative endeavor – check it out.

Terri Rochenski announced an opportunity with her publisher, Roane Publishing. They have an open sub call for an upcoming fantasy anthology titled Portals. See her site for details.

Special thanks to Robyn Campbell and Edi’s Book LIghthouse who both placed CassaStorm at the top of their favorite books of 2013. You both rock!!

For those of you who write poetry, Bossy Betty had a really creative idea!

Pat Hatt created a special video for Christmas, and I’m proud to say I defeat Evil Santa with my guitar playing! (And not because I was playing badly either.)



The 2014 A to Z Challenge Team is coming together! We’ll announce them and open up the sign-up list on January 27. We’ll also be looking for Minions again. Any volunteers…?

2013 and Our Best Year

2013 was another good year for me, although 2012 seemed better. However, I did launch CassaStorm, the final book in my series. I made huge improvements in my guitar playing. And of course, the launch of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group website was a major highlight.

We remember years that boast major accomplishments and happy occasions. I can remember living in England, marrying my wife, accepting Jesus, and the launch of my very first book. Those were all good years.

So I ask you – what was your best year and why?

See you Wednesday for Insecure Writer’s Support Group post day!

What were your favorite movies, shows, books, etc. in 2013? Picked up any of the new releases? Ready for the A to Z Challenge? (Want to be a Minion?) And what year shines in your memory – and why?

Ninja News, Celebrating Small Things, and the February Movie Preview

Ninja News

Brinda Berry created a trailer for Isis Rushdan’s’ book, Kindred of the Fallen. Brinda does an awesome job with trailers, and they are debuting it on both sites today, so check it out!

The sign up list for the A to Z Challenge opened on Wednesday, and we are on our way to five hundred already. If you haven’t signed up yet, go HERE. And for those of you wondering how to plan for the Challenge, Clare Dugmore posted her topics for both of here blogs HERE and HERE. Now that is organized and prepared!!

In the excitement of the Challenge list opening, I forgot to mention next week’s Wednesday Movie Quote genre – crime thriller.
Thanks to those of you who are playing along!

Next Wednesday is also the next posting for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, and my co-hosts are Stephen Tremp and Julie Flanders.

Celebrate the Small Things

“Celebrate the Small Things” is hosted every Friday by VikLit.

This week I celebrate a breakthrough on my third book’s back cover synopsis, thanks to Rusty Webb. I still haven’t been able to make the appropriate changes because my publisher returned my manuscript this week and I’ve been working on the revisions. But that’s cool – CassaStorm is one step closer to reality!

February Movie Preview

Here are the upcoming movies for February! As always, descriptions courtesy of the IMDB. Snarky comments by me.

1 -

Warm Bodies
After R (a highly unusual zombie) saves Julie from an attack, the two form a relationship that sets in motion a sequence of events that might transform the entire lifeless world.
Director: Jonathan Levine
Stars: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, John Malkovich, Analeigh Tipton
Zombie love sounds icky – things could fall off.
Yeah, I’ll admit I’m curious about this movie.

Bullet to the Head
After watching their respective partners die, a New Orleans hitman and a Washington D.C. detective form an alliance in order to bring down their common enemy.
Director: Walter Hill
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Momoa, Christian Slater, Sung Kang
Watching a sixty-six year old man kick ass teeters between impressive and sad.

Stand Up Guys
A pair of aging con men try to get the old gang back together for one last hurrah before one of the guys takes his last assignment -- to kill his comrade.
Director: Fisher Stevens
Stars: Al Pacino, Alan Arkin, Christopher Walken, Julianna Margulies
Dig that Alan Arkin – the guy is hilarious.



8 -

Side Effects
A woman turns to prescription medication as a way of handling her anxiety concerning her husband's upcoming release from prison.
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Stars: Rooney Mara, Channing Tatum, Jude Law, Catherine Zeta-Jones
Guessing this isn’t the feel good movie of the year.



15 -

A Good Day to Die Hard
John McClane travels to Russia to help out his seemingly wayward son, Jack, only to discover that Jack is a CIA operative working to prevent a nuclear-weapons heist, causing the father and son to team up against underworld forces.
Director: John Moore
Stars: Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Patrick Stewart
Yippee-Ki-Yay Mother Russia! That’s right – that never grows old.

22 -

Dark Skies
As the Barret family's peaceful suburban life is rocked by an escalating series of disturbing events, they come to learn that a terrifying and deadly force is after them.
Director: Scott Charles Stewart
Stars: Keri Russell, Josh Hamilton, Dakota Goyo, J.K. Simmons
Please tell me this will rise above every genre cliché known to man…
However the preview says – not so much.

Snitch
A father goes undercover for the DEA in order to free his son who was imprisoned after being set up in drug deal.
Director: Ric Roman Waugh
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Susan Sarandon, Jon Bernthal, Rafi Gavron
The Rock doesn’t have the best track record with movies. This film probably won’t change that.


Have you signed up for the Challenge yet? (And do you have a theme?) Ready for the IWSG? What are you celebrating this week? Any of those movies interest you? And who do you think will win the Super Bowl on Sunday? (Even Mini-Alex will be watching…)

And Monday I will finally reveal my next blogfest on March 18!!